Green Bay Packers add Alabama pair to their lineup

Published Mar. 15, 2024, 10:04 p.m.5-6 minutes 3/15/2024
Mark Inabinett
Teammates for two seasons at Alabama, running back Josh Jacobs and safety Xavier McKinney are teammates again in the NFL after they signed contracts with the Green Bay Packers on Friday.
“We had a lot of fun there,” McKinney said, “so plan on doing the same thing here.”
Jacobs and McKinney became unrestricted free agents on Wednesday afternoon, with the running back coming to Green Bay after five seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders and the safety joining the Packers after four seasons with the New York Giants.
“I’m glad that we’re back on the same team, I can tell you that, because he’s a special back,” McKinney said. “Somebody that I’m really good friends with. He’s a great teammate. He’s a guy that plays really hard, makes a lot of plays, so it’s going to be fun to just be back on the field with him and practicing against him.”
Jacobs got to Alabama one year before McKinney, and each player spent three seasons with the Crimson Tide.
Alabama posted a 27-2 record while Jacobs and McKinney were teammates. In the 2017 season, the Tide defeated Georgia 26-23 in overtime in the CFP national-championship game. In the 2018 season, Alabama lost to Clemson 44-16 in the CFP national-championship game.
“I remember his first spring ball,” Jacobs said about McKinney. “He was kind of quiet at first. He was one of those guys you would just see him work. And then I actually seen him step into that leader role and everything – being the guy and starting to demand more out of the players and things like that. But my first thought of him, honestly, was I liked the way this dude came in. I like people that they come in and put their head down and work at improving. And he was one of those guys, so he definitely had my respect.”
McKinney signed a four-year, $67 million contract, and Jacobs inked a four-year, $48 million deal. However, in each case, the signing bonus is the only guaranteed portion of the contract, according to the sports-financial website spotrac.com. McKinney got a $23 million signing bonus, and Jacobs got a $12.5 million signing bonus.
The Packers are planning to have two Alabama alumni as regular starters for the first time since the 2014 and 2015 campaigns – and the 2024 starters are playing the same positions as the players in those seasons. In the 2014 and 2015 campaigns, safety HaHa Clinton-Dix and running back Eddie Lacy were in the starting lineup together in 22 games.
Those are the only seasons since 1986 that two players from Alabama started more than half of Green Bay’s games in the same year. In 1986, Randy Scott started 16 games at linebacker and Paul Ott Carruth started 12 games at fullback.
The 2022 NFL rushing champion, Jacobs was among the nine former Alabama running backs who carried the football during the 2023 NFL season.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, who retired in January after 17 seasons, has been even more prolific in sending defensive backs into the NFL. Sixteen former Alabama cornerbacks and safeties played in the NFL during the 2023 season, and 10 intercepted at least one pass, with McKinney picking off three.
“He helped me in ways I can’t even explain,” McKinney said about Saban. “Just the discipline part of it. That perfecting craft, what I talk about, I got that from him. Just seeing how he handled his business every day. How he came into meetings, how he went about practice, I learned a lot from him, and it’s stuck with me throughout my career.
“He’s definitely made me want to be a lot better than what I am today. I never get complacent. I always know there’s ways I can improve my game. And that’s just something he’s always taught me and has stuck with me since then.”
Jacobs and McKinney were on the same field as recently as Nov. 5. That’s when the Raiders defeated the Giants 30-6. Jacobs ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries, and McKinney recorded 10 tackles.